Angie Devanney
Posted by Love Hope Strength on Mar 9, 2009
I am the wife of the two-time Everest /Machu Picchu trekker affectionately called “Wally.” My name is Angie Devanney, 38, and I am the mother of two beautiful children Ryan Paul, 6 years, and Abbey Julia, 7 months. I reside in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey with my husband “Wally” George Devanney, the Union County Manager, though I grew up in Grand Junction Colorado until the age of 14 when my family moved to New Jersey.
The Gateway Regional Chamber of Commerce awarded me with Business Administrator of the year in 2006 for my work attempt to relocate the New York Jets’ practice facility and administrative offices to the town I managed. In 2005, I was named A Woman of Excellence in the area of Environmental Advocacy for saving 100 acres of open space in Union County 7 years ahead of schedule. Last year when I found out I was pregnant with our second child Abbey I left the public sector and formed my own government relations firm Keywood Strategies, LLC. But awards and business successes are not the experiences that shape the human experience. I doubt any of us who support LHS will look back and tout our professional accomplishments but would rather share our personal experiences.
Our connection to LHS is steeped in our first meetings with its founders. We first met Mike, then James and became amazed by their heroic stories of fighting and alas conquering cancer. The night I met James Chippendale, the night he announced the formation of LHS, I noticed a tattoo with the name “Klaus” on his upper arm. He enthusiastically and emotionally explained he was his bone marrow donor who had never been outside his local village in Germany and yet saved James’ life.
Then four months later, minutes after the Empire State Building Rocks event in 2007 ended, my husband George, a non-trekker by his own admission, turned to me in a cab in New York City and said, “I think I want to go to Mt. Everest.” People who knew us believe my response to George’s desire to walk 18,000 feet into the thin air was more bizarre than his request. I simply replied, “I understand why you want to go—and I want you to go.”
Then ironically, the same year that George decided that he wanted to be a part of Everest Rocks, he underwent two biopsies. When we spoke to his doctor, he refused to concede that the biopsies were just precautionary—as I convinced myself—he instead expressed real concern. I cried while driving back alone to my office traversing two New Jersey counties while growing angry with God. How could he have the audacity to potentially send such a terrible disease to the most admirable man I know? I cried for weeks… in the middle of dinner, while watching television, while getting our son ready for preschool. But, we were the lucky ones because George was cleared after six months of testing and two full blown biopsies. We felt as though we could finally look toward our future, a second baby. But then the doctor found a lump in my breast. I was bewildered. How could this be? I am only 35! Cancer is for older people. After continuing testing into my pregnancy and a biopsy, I too was cleared, the lumps were benign.
That year, George and I became better educated—many of our contemporaries were fighting cancer—most of them were 30 or 40 or 50 years old. My best friend’s mother succumbed to breast cancer in November. Our son’s principal, Mary Kay McMillin, passed away last year from a long bout with breast cancer. This year two young boys, Kyle Kramer and Nicholas Tarabokian not much older than our son are battling cancer in our hometown of Berkeley Heights. It finally occurred to me that cancer is an epidemic like no other we have witnessed.
All of us who support LHS are blessed to live in communities where early detection and treatment can save our lives. As a mother of two small children, I can’t imagine the pain of having a child diagnosed with cancer. My heroines are the mother and wives that support their families through the physical and emotional toll of cancer and especially the amazing woman who climbs back from cancer every day while balancing the rest of her work and family!
During George’s trek to Base Camp Everest, he would call from a patchy satellite phone with stories about the LHS cancer survivors, the people of Nepal and the optimism that bound all of these groups together. I felt as though I was taking each step of his journey with him and the importance of the original trek to provide these people with critical cancer-fighting equipment was palpable. So, I am so honored to be able to take a small part in this organization and participate in Kilimanjaro Rocks.
I will be trekking for my children beautiful Abbey and spirited Ryan, Nicholas and Kyle from Berkeley Heights, and for the African mothers who need LHS to save the lives of their children. But especially for “Wally” to make him proud that I am following in his footsteps.
